


Home is Where the Heart is

by flyppa



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Gift Fic, M/M, Trespasser DLC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-20
Updated: 2016-04-20
Packaged: 2018-06-03 10:12:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6606970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flyppa/pseuds/flyppa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dorian returns from Tevinter to visit Oscar in Kirkwall and see how his amatus is doing. Thankfully, Oscar's health and mood seems to have improved since Dorian last saw him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Home is Where the Heart is

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hinotoriii](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hinotoriii/gifts).



> This thing has been such a pain in the arse... and was supposed to be finished a month ago as a birthday present for my good friend Kimmie (hinotoriii to those of you on here). Fortunately for me, she often grants me permission to borrow her lovely Inquisitor, Oscar, and give him a bit of happiness every now and then. I'm actually mostly happy with it now, and so decided that it was time to let it go and release it onto the internet.
> 
> This fic does have a brief appearance by my F!Lavellan character, Ellana Lavellan, who in this universe has served in the Inquisition under a different role, and is in a relationship with Cullen following the events of Trespasser - which I have hopefully explained well enough. Also appearing in this work is Oscar and Dorian's daughter Mae Trevelyan, and Oscar's sister Johanna Trevelyan. Both characters have featured in some of Kimmie's past works, and I'm sure will appear in many futures ones too. Of course, Oscar's loveable nuggalope Nug-Nug also had to appear, because reasons.

“I come all this way back from Tevinter -- through the cold and the rain -- and you would rather pet your giant  _ nug  _ than spend some quality time with me?” Dorian asked, his tone equal parts disbelieving and disgusted -- and maybe slightly irritated. After Oscar had ridden out on the monstrous creature to meet him on the road, Dorian had expected a little bit more affection and attention once they had arrived at Oscar’s Kirkwall mansion.

“I give Nug-Nug a scrub down every time we’ve been out riding,” Oscar answered cheerfully, giving the giant beast a good scrub with the brush he was holding in his remaining hand. Although having one one hand made a lot of tasks quite difficult, Oscar had been pleased to find that he had still been able to tend to Nug-Nug with ease -- and Mae was always around to help too if he needed it. “This occasion is no different, otherwise he’ll get grumpy with me.”

“You said that you rode out to meet me because you wanted to spend time with me and couldn’t wait to see me, but now you’re favouring the nuggalope instead,” Dorian protested, folding his arms in a very stubborn manner. “I know I’ve been on the road for weeks, but I’m certain that I still smell better than  _ that  _ thing.”

To anyone who didn’t know them well, Dorian may have seemed incredibly annoyed with his amatus. However, Oscar and everyone else there knew that there was no real sting behind the other man’s words. Besides, Oscar would only keep him going for a few minutes or so, and then he would hopefully be able to hand Nug-Nug over to someone else to finish off, and then he would be able to spend time with Dorian.

“At least it’s another living creature that you’ve been ditched for,” Ellana scoffed and folded her arms, mimicking the stance of her employer. “And not a bunch of scrolls.”

After the shrinking of the Inquisition, Ellana had left her reconnaissance role under Scout Harding and had instead been given a new role as Dorian’s bodyguard in Tevinter. As an elf, there were places in Tevinter that Ellana would be able to get to, whereas Dorian could not. Of course, it was no secret to Oscar, as the Inquisitor, or Dorian that Ellana was still working for Leliana, passing on information she gathered from Tevinter -- and of course, always being on the lookout for leads to Solas.

“The commander will soon enough realise what he’s missing, my dear.” Dorian reassured Ellana, reaching out and patting her on the shoulder. “As necessary as his business may be, he will soon remember that you’re of greater importance than all of it.”

Cullen had agreed to meet Ellana in Kirkwall once he had heard that she would be travelling south with Dorian so that he could visit Oscar. However, that morning Cullen had sent word saying that he had been held up by some urgent business, and had conveyed his sincerest apologies… and Ellana had refused to share whatever the rest of the note had said, but Dorian had teased her mercilessly about the shade of red that had travelled up her cheeks and most likely to the tips of her ears.

Ellana’s expression softened and she smiled at Dorian. “In that case, I’m sure that Oscar will eventually realise that spending time with you is more important that grooming his nuggalope right now. I mean, he and Cullen can both be as boneheaded as each other sometimes -- especially when it comes to romance.”

“Oh no, I assure you, Oscar can be  _ more _ boneheaded than your dear commander.” Dorian answered. “Particularly on the finer things in life.”

Mae giggled from where she was standing beside Nug-Nug, helping her father groom the large creature. Whenever her father and  _ pater  _ bickered, she always found it amusing to a degree -- especially because Mae didn’t think she had ever heard them bicker about anything seriously. It was always silly little things, and the bickering often ended with Oscar and Dorian laughing too.

Oscar eventually relented with an incredibly exaggerated sigh. “Well I suppose that I do get to spend time with Nug-Nug almost everyday. Ellana, would you be so kind as to take over? Mae will be more than happy to show you the ropes.”

“I’d be delighted.” Ellana said, winking at Mae as she held her hand out to take the brush from Oscar. “It means that we can have a girly talk while you’re both gone.”

Dorian snorted in amusement, unable to imagine Ellana talking about anything that would be considered ‘girly’. There had been a time once when Ellana had taken Mae to the market in Kirkwall, before Dorian had left for Tevinter after the second turn of events at Halamshiral -- when the Qunari invasion had been dealt with, and Solas had appeared and vanished again. Ellana had returned from the market with Mae and two silk dresses, which she had later told Dorian and Oscar that she had only bought because Mae said that she looked pretty in them and should get them -- and of course, it was difficult to refuse Mae anything when she was looking so happy with an adorable little smile. Dorian had noted though that Ellana had worn both of the dresses after Cullen had remarked on how nice she had looked wearing one.

“Thank you, Ellana.” Oscar said, smiling at the elf as they passed each other, placing the brush in her outstretched hand. “We’ll see you later.”

“Take as long as you want,” Ellana answered, returning Oscar’s smile. “I’m sure that Mae and I will be able to create our own fun.”

Mae cheered when Ellana appeared next to her, tending gently to Nug-Nug, and instantly started asking excited questions about what Tevinter was like -- and then quickly changing subject and talking happily about Cullen and how Ellana’s return for a short while would hopefully make him less grumpy when he eventually tore himself away from his boring business and came to visit.

Dorian fell into step beside Oscar as they left the stables, strolling across the courtyard of Oscar’s Kirkwall estate. Although the estate conveyed Oscar’s obvious status and the wealth that he had gained, it was far simpler than most despite it’s size. The exterior of the mansion had a few creeping plants on the front, but no grand decorations that other nobles were so fond of. Out the back of the house, a lot of the garden had been cleared to make room for the stables, and a grazing area for the animals to accompany it. The area of garden that was left was used mainly for planting -- and it was planting seeds that had introduced Oscar and Mae in the first place, and Oscar wished to accommodate hobbies that he and his daughter could carry out together.

The inside of Oscar’s mansion was also rather modest and homely. When Dorian had last been there, it had been in the few months after Solas had taken the mark from Oscar, when he had first moved in. Not all of the furniture and items had been in place then, and the mansion had sometimes felt as dark and empty as Oscar’s mood -- not that the other man could be faulted for it. Now the hallway was full of light and a few paintings and things, and to Dorian it felt a lot more like home -- even if he did spend most of his time in Tevinter at the moment.

“Johanna was kind enough to say that she would sort out a bath for when you arrived,” Oscar said, smiling at Dorian as they climbed the stairs to the second floor. “She knows as well as I do that you like to wallow in hot water for hours after you’ve been on a long journey.”

Well, hopefully not exactly as well as Oscar knew how much Dorian enjoyed a hot bath. Instead of saying that aloud however, Dorian tutted instead. “When you say ‘wallow’, you make it sound so undignified.”

Johanna was just leaving the bathroom when Oscar and Dorian approached the room. When Oscar had first moved to Kirkwall, it had been agreed that his sister would stay with him until he managed to find his feet again, and Johanna went above and beyond to make sure that her brother had anything he wanted. Oscar felt as though he was going to be indebted to his sister for a long time.

“Dorian, it’s nice to see you again.” Johanna greeted with a smile. “I hope the journey wasn’t too rough on you.”

“Yes, well, this southern weather leaves much to be desired, as usual.” Dorian answered, returning Johanna’s polite smile. “But otherwise the journey was fine. Thank you for asking. The first thing your brother did upon seeing me was criticise me.”

Oscar rolled his eyes, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards into a smile. “Well it’s not like you’re dressed for our terrible southern weather.”

Johanna’s smile broadened as she walked past Oscar and Dorian, reaching out so that she could pinch her brother’s cheek as she did so. “Oscar may be critical, but I haven’t seen such a big smile on his face since you left. Unless Mae is being exceptionally cute, anyway.”

Oscar batted at Johanna’s hand, and scowled as she let go and walked away down the corridor. “If you want Mae to stay being exceptionally cute, then you better go down to the tables and make sure that Ellana isn’t teaching her how to fire arrows at people she’s angry with.”

Johanna smiled over her shoulder as she passed by Oscar and Dorian. “Perhaps I’ll see if Ellana would be willing to teach me how to fire arrows at people I’m angry at.”

“You’re a chantry sister.” Oscar reminded Johanna as she walked away.

“As was Leliana.” Johanna responded, giving Oscar and Dorian a brief wave as she departed.

Oscar returned Johanna’s brief as she made her way down the hallway, before he stepped aside to allow Dorian to enter the bathroom before him. The bathroom was decorated with various engravings and things that Oscar had picked out -- with a little help from Mae, of course. Oscar was pleased to see the small smile on Dorian’s lips as he admired the snake-like patterns that were on some of the tiles.

“I wanted this to be your home too,” Oscar said, smiling at Dorian as he continued to look around the bathroom, inspecting the décor and seemingly pleased. “And I know how you enjoy spending a lot of time bathing, especially because of our terrible southern weather, so I thought that I would decorate it for you.”

“Does that mean that you decorated the library for me as well?” Dorian asked, a teasing hint to his voice.

Oscar smiled, glad to see that Dorian seemed pleased with how he had arranged their home. Of course, Dorian would still be spending the majority of time away in Tevinter, but Oscar wanted the other man to know that there was always a place for him, no matter how short the duration of his stay might be. “You have your own chair in the library.”

Dorian’s eyes widened in slight surprise, though he didn’t allow the expression to linger for long, returning to that teasing smile he so often wore. “Is it as comfortable as the one in Skyhold was? I do miss that chair.”

“I’m sure you’ll get the chance to find that out later.” Oscar said, smiling at Dorian with a hint of mischief behind his eyes. “Amongst other things, of course. I think the only piece of furniture in the house that is more comfortable than that chair is the master bed.”

Dorian raised his eyebrows. Now he understood the mischief that was gracing Oscar’s expression. “Is that a hint?”

“Perhaps after your bath,” Oscar told the other man, attempting to stifle his grin as he headed towards the bathroom door. “When you smell better.”

“Says the man who enjoys the company of giant nugs.” Dorian scoffed, shaking his head as Oscar walked towards the door. Just as the other man was about to pass through and back out into the corridor, Dorian spoke again. “So you’re just going to leave me to enjoy this huge, lovely bath all by myself?”

Oscar smiled at Dorian and closed the bathroom door, turning the key in the lock. “I wouldn’t even dream of it.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to anyone who read this! Despite publishing a few prompts on tumblr in the past few months, I haven't actually published anything in... well, it must be five years at least. Here's hoping that things continue to improve!


End file.
